


Just Out of Frame

by AcceleratedStall



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Genre: Business cards, Gen, Junpei's Movie Cliche Hour, One-sided Conversation, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25207615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcceleratedStall/pseuds/AcceleratedStall
Summary: The giant mob of Persona-users in this movie theater is making Junpei feel a bit superfluous, so he's stepped out for a bit. Unfortunately this means trying to converse with Hikari, even though he's the worst possible person for the job. (Takes place after all playable characters have arrived, but before the completion of the third labyrinth/movie.)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	Just Out of Frame

With twenty-eight of them on hand now, the introductions just go _on_ and _on_. At least, that will be Junpei’s excuse if anybody asks him why he’s alone in one of the empty theaters instead of with the rest of the group in the lobby. The rows of heavily cushioned chairs seem to muffle his footsteps - this might be a good place to sleep later, if anyone ever figures out what time it actually is.

Actually, it’s so quiet in here that when Junpei stops walking, he’s pretty sure he can hear the popcorn he just ate digesting in his stomach. As much as he wanted to be away from the overachievers for a few minutes, this is almost creepy.

He’s contemplating heading back to the others and performing a stickup on Sakamoto with his Evoker when he nearly trips over a pair of brown shoes.

“Gah!” he yelps in surprise, following the shoes up to the rest of Hikari. She responds in kind, nervously pulling her feet up onto the seat and wrapping her arms around her legs.

“Sorry,” Junpei says sheepishly after a pause, “I just thought I was the only one in here.” He sits down, leaving the space of one empty seat between them. “What were you up to in here?”

Hikari stares for a moment. “Thinking,” she whispers finally.

“Did you want to get away from the crowd too?”

Hikari just nods.

“Can’t blame ya, dude. There’s a student council president, a model, a pop star, a talking cat, _two_ detectives… It’s like, what am I even here for? Anything I can do they can do better.”

Junpei stares towards the blank screen in front of them; Hikari says nothing.

“Ugh, coming in and dumping all of that on you… I’m such a dick,” Junpei sighs. “Hmm…” he searches for a new topic.

“Oh, but it was amazing in there,” he points to the movie screen. “We did all the sci-fi lab stuff! Teleporters, force fields, hexagons everywhere for no reason, a sad robot… we even had to crawl through an air duct like Bruce Willis! You should’ve seen it!”

Hikari nods again.

“Wait, I guess you did, huh?”

“Yes, I did,” she answers.

“I forgot - we can’t see the camera while we’re in there, heh. Did we ever get the _Jaws_ shot? Where the character stays in the same place and the background moves?

“…Hitchcock.” Hikari whispers.

“Hmm?”

Hikari seems to gather her composure for a second before continuing. “Hitchcock did that first. The camera is moved toward or away from the subject on a track, while the focal length increases or decreases.”

“I didn’t know that. That’s kind of cool.” Junpei sinks into his seat, long legs stretching out across the theater floor.

“Right,” Hikari says, finally catching Junpei’s eyes.

Junpei decides to fill the ensuing silence; he can almost hear his own heartbeat again. “Still kind of amazed the teleporters actually work, though.”

He lifts a finger to his chin. “I guess if the movie script says the setting is a place where teleportation is real, then it has to be real for us while we’re in there? Still, it violates every law of physics at once, or that’s what the detective said. The one with the hat. What was her name? Shino… Shiro…”

“Shirogane,” comes a clear voice from the row behind them.

“Gah!” Junpei leaps out of his chair. “Where did you come from?”

Naoto clears her throat. “I wanted to examine some of the details of this theater building. I was hoping the age and design of the theater might give us some insight into who…” She pauses. “Oh, pardon me, Hikari-san.”

Hikari turns in her seat, and nods to Naoto politely, but when she opens her mouth no words come out.

“Er, I didn’t mean to mess up your name, Shirogane-san,” Junpei says. “No offense?”

“None taken,” Naoto replies evenly.

“Anyway, I should be heading back to the lobby to speak with Narukami and Akechi-san, so-“ Naoto begins.

“Hey, why haven’t we had a detective movie? You’ve seen those, right?” Junpei asks before she can finish.

“Yes,” Hikari answers.

“I have,” Naoto also confirms.

“Right, so you both know how everything would be in black and white. And we’d all talk in private eye monologue! Like this!”

Junpei clears his throat.

 _“The rain drums on the window pane like the beat of a Chicago typewriter. I stub out my cigarette; only one meeting left for the night, with my old colleagues Jack and Daniels. Just then, this dame walks in, with red hair and a white dress like Lucifer’s own stop sign. She says to me-“_ Junpei stops. “Too far?”

“Yes,” Hikari repeats, but somehow her voice seems a little clearer and warmer than last time.

“There’d be an upside, though - we wouldn’t need to ask that Theo guy for weapons. We could just find ‘em in toilet tanks and behind bars next to the vermouth bottles.”

“Let me assure you that the life of a detective is not anything like that,” Naoto warns him.

“‘Course not! This is about _movie_ detectives!” Junpei explains breathlessly. “Oh, Shirogane, that’s right! You can do the thing!”

Naoto tilts her head quizzically. “What thing?”

“With the cards!”

Naoto now appears even more confused. “Cards…” she murmurs, then reaches into a pocket.

After a moment’s pause, Naoto takes a deep breath and presses a business card into Junpei’s outstretched hand. “Give me a call if you remember anything else,” she says, feigning nonchalance.

“Yes!” Junpei exclaims with an eager fist-pump.

“Was that…” Naoto begins, puzzled. “Was that what you wanted me to do?”

“Totally! That’s what they say in movies! Right, Hikari?” Junpei turns to her.

Hikari doesn’t answer, though; she just laughs, quietly, into her hand.

Suddenly the theater lights go down; the projector behind them spins up, and a bright white light shines on the screen.

“Guess we’re headed back into it,” Junpei says.

“Are you prepared?” Naoto asks him; he just shrugs.

“Showtime!” From the door of the theater comes Joker’s commanding voice.

Hikari’s eyes are fixed on the screen in anticipation, but before he goes, Junpei pokes her in the shoulder with one corner of the business card Naoto gave him.

“Here, take it,” he says, placing it in Hikari’s hands. She runs her fingers curiously over the embossed text, reading _Shirogane Naoto, Consulting Detective_. “Always liked getting a little souvenir when I went to the movies.”

As the remainder of the Persona-users pile into the theater and they prepare to enter the movie, pale reflected light from the screen outlines the contours of Hikari’s face; Junpei can just make out a faint smile on her lips, mouthing out an unheard _“thank you.”_ It feels good.

**Author's Note:**

> Another one of those things that drops into my head while I'm trying to write something else. Reading Carriwitchets' PQ2 fic "Picture House" got me wondering how Junpei and Hikari would get along. My answer - he would talk her ear off, but in a friendly, well-meaning sort of way. He is canonically into action movies, after all.


End file.
